Sweden Takes A Step Towards Longer Paid Paternity Leave For Dads

The Swedish government is about to take a step toward equalizing parental leave. The country’s Left Party is hoping for more individualized paid time off for new parents, reports CNN.

The government submitted a proposal for extending paid paternity leave to three months. It’s believed that the proposal has a high probability of passing in Parliament. The Left Party is reported to be pushing for more equally divided parental leave for moms and dads.

In Sweden, parents are entitled to 480 days of paid parental leave, and now 60 of those days are reserved for the father. It is reported that in 2012, nearly of quarter of Swedish fathers took their paternity leave.

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Out of the 38 countries represented in the 2013 Pew study, the United States is the only country to not offer mandatory paid leave for new parents, while Estonia, a smaller country in Eastern Europe, offers almost two years of paid leave.

Many of the countries featured in the study, such as France, Germany, Hungary and Finland, offered a median of 13 months of protective leave for new mothers.